Marriage was ordained by God for the good of spouses and for procreation. But how often does marriage turn out to bring unhappiness to partners! And how often do even happy marriages end up childless! Among the Igbo of South-eastern Nigeria, to whom offspring is the chief goal of marriage, childlessness leads often to unhappiness in marriage and not less often to the break-up of marriages or to polygamy. In this work, the author expounds the importance of marriage and its practice among the Igbo. He explains the importance of children in Igbo understanding of marriage and identifies childlessness as the key factor which could endanger (and sometimes do endanger) the Igbo acceptance of the Catholic doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage. Using the relevant clauses of the Code of Canon Law, the author explains in detail the Catholic understanding of marriage and the goals of the catholic doctrine on marriage. He writes of the possibility of marriage impediments due to impotence and sterility (that lead to childlessness) and recommends not only a thorough pre-marriage preparation but also a continual formation of marriage couples as efforts that could check the increasing rate of divorce and polygamy due to childlessness. But the author knows that childlessness can still occur despite all precautions. He therefore recommends adoption (instead of polygamy) as the ultimate panacea to childlessness in marriage. The author condemns in unmistakable terms the mentality among the Igbo which blames and traumatizes the woman in cases of childlessness.

This reference collection presents academic reviews of more than twelve-hundred contemporary Africa-related publications relevant for informed Christian reflection in and about Africa. The collection is based on the review journal BookNotes for Africa, a specialist resource dedicated to bringing to notice such publications, and furnishing them with a one-paragraph description and evaluation. Now assembled here for the first time is the entire collection of reviews through the first thirty issues of the journal’s history. The core intention, both of the journal and of this compilation, is to encourage and to facilitate informed Christian reflection and engagement in Africa, through a thoughtful encounter with the published intellectual life of the continent. Reviews have been provided by a team of more than one hundred contributors drawn from throughout Africa and overseas. The books and other media selected for review represent a broad cross-section of interests and issues, of personalities and interpretations, including the secular as well as the religious. The collection will be of special interest to academic scholars, theological educators, libraries, ministry leaders, and specialist researchers in Africa and throughout the world, but will also engage any reader looking for a convenient resource relating to modern Africa and Christian presence there.